


One Love

by homosuck413



Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M, fantisy, mercreature, merman, one love, one mate, roleplay based
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-15
Updated: 2014-03-15
Packaged: 2018-01-15 18:42:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1315270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/homosuck413/pseuds/homosuck413
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John is a merman washed on shore, Dave finds him and trys to flirt. Based off a cute roleplay I had awhile back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Love

**Author's Note:**

> This is a long one-shot sorry ;-; enjoy it though.

John Egbert was in a bit of a problem, currently he’s laying on the ground of a small cove. A place where humans rarely came and thankfully, there was no trash to litter the tan sand. Normally John could easily make his way back to shore, but right now John was stuck in a heavy duty nylon tuna net and he couldn’t bulge. He had intended to get rid of the thing as soon as he found it but in the churning tide he had gotten himself both entangled and washed on shore. Stuck on his stomach, tired of struggling and getting no where, he gave up. His fin flipped in defeat, sunlight reflecting off his deep blue scales.

 

Dave was walking down the beach, he did this often in Cali. His Bro dragged him here for the summer, there was some puppet convention going on or something like that and Dave picked the beach over the hotel filled with sweaty people that all shared the same love for puppets. Ew. Although Dave didn’t like the crowds of the California beaches and instead found small caves and coves where people didn’t often travel. There he would sit and just enjoy the cool weather and salty smell of the ocean. He was heading towards one now, a small cove just outside of where the residents of the beach lived, where many dared not to venture. When he got there though, he wasn’t expecting to find a large bulk of net inside. That hadn’t been there before, he thought. Holy shit, was something inside?

 

John coughed, not taking notice of the human, he made a feeble attempt to sit up. At this point he could hardly do much of anything, he felt sick to his stomach. Feeling the full effects of dehydration meant he was pale, all his senses were hardly operating and most of all, he could barely move. He opened his eyes, unable to make them any more than narrowed as he looked at the sand. He couldn't be bothered to be alarmed, he couldn't do anything about it.

 

Dave walked closer, cautionishly. He peeked at the large creature, blue tail. Damn what a large catch, he thought. That was until he noticed the skin connecting to the scales and he ventured closer. Oh fuck no. This was not happening.

 

"Bro what the fuck are you playing some kind of joke?" he asked looking around the small coven. It seemed like it was just him and the fish guy..this wasn't possible. He kneeled down next to the boys face, god damn he was pale.

 

"Hey, you alright kid?" He asked, his eyes searching over the boys face.

 

John heard a muffled voice, eventually it became clearer and John wondered if he had blacked out in his weakened state. He opened his eyes slowly, and his dark blue eyes slowly looked up at the thing talking to him. A human. It was official, John was going to die.

 

Dave reached forward slowly, lifting up the boys chin to get a good look at him. No way this could be a prank.

 

"Do you need water or something?" he asked, not liking how pale he was. He didn't think that was normal, even for such an abnormal creature.

 

"I can like, help you out if you need. You look stuck." that much was obvious.

 

John was switching between being able to hear and not, the fear of being touched by a human and dehydration was making all his sense go haywire, intensifying the humans touch. He bared his teeth and glared at the human angrily, obvious confusion mixed in his face as well. Everything hurt, everything sucked and suddenly, everything was an enemy.

 

“Don’t. Touch. Me” John growled out harshly.

 

Dave raised his hands in surrender and took a few small steps back. He considered just leaving the kid there to die, but knew he would always regret it. Instead he looked around the coven, trying to figure out how to get him back in the water without touching him. The net. Duh. He walked back towards the guys tail, hoping his scales weren't somehow deadly. He grabbed the net and started pulling it into the water. Hopefully mermaids or merman or whatever the fuck he was wouldn’t die like a shark if they didn’t move, because there was no way Dave would be able to take the net off without touching him. He ended up falling into the water himself and getting his clothes soaked but at least the net was mostly in the water. He walked back to the front of the boy.

 

"This better?" he asked.

 

The minute water made contact with John’s  gills, time seemed to move forward again. He sat up in the water, spitting out sand and becoming increasingly more aware of his surroundings. The human was a second concern now, the net was a priority to get rid of. He found his way out without difficulty now, tossing the net up onto the sand and looking at the human. John looked around like he was going to dart off at any second, hell, he probably would.

 

"... Thanks." He said softly, flickering his gaze to the human for a short second.

 

"Yeah no problem" Dave said shaking his hair out and looking down at him.

 

"What are you?" he asked after a few seconds, he hoped the guy wouldn't just leave without an explanation. Dave was curious about the thing. How many were there? How have they not been caught yet? So many little things that picked at Daves mind about this fish boy.

 

"I'm a merman, thought that was a little obvious..." John said as he kept still, ready to go at any second. Although the human seemed like he only wanted to help, John was never going to let himself trust a stranger.

  
  


"Fair point. I didn’t think you guys actually existed though. Only place I've heard of you is movies and shit. Never gave it a second thought. Are there others?" Dave asked, shifting his weight onto his other leg, the water making his jeans stick to him uncomfortably.

 

"Yeah. Well probably, maybe? Not here at least." John said. Why am I talking to him, a human? He shouldn't be, this was supposedly the most dangerous thing a merperson could do. John felt a little like an idiot just sitting there.

 

"You dont know?" Dave questioned him, hoping he wasn’t being too nosey. He glanced out to the open sea, surprised the guy hasn’t absconded yet, but grateful he hadn’t.

 

"Well everyone around here is either gone or dead, but in other places around the world I'm sure there are others." John shrugged like it's old news. It kind of was.

 

"Huh." was all Dave said, he looked the guy up and down, actually paying attention this time. Damn. He was hot. Also a weird fish, but hot.

 

"So whats your plan fishboy? Sit around getting washed up in nets till you finally join them in fishy heaven?" Dave teased playfully.

 

"I guess, what other option do I have?" John says, looking at Dave as if he was the biggest smartass in the world. Fuck, for all he knows he is a fully decorated smartass, he must win awards with that shit. Dave chuckled slightly, "Sounds like a dream life. But pretty boring I’d say." he took a small step towards the merman, looking down at his tail, "Can I touch it?"

 

"Yeah no, my life sucks." John sighs. Then raises an eyebrow at him, raising the appendage out of the water.

 

"What, my tail? I guess..." John mumbled softly.  Dave smirked and carefully raised a hand up, placing an open palm on his tail and stroking softly.

 

"Heh, it feels weird." he said looking up into the boys eyes and flashing him a small, rare smile.

 

"Eh, kind of." John admits looking right back at him, thinking he looks sort of... Attractive with that smile. He immediately gets rid of that though with a slight blush and a flustered look. n o p e.  Dave blurted the next thing that came into his mind, "How do you guys fuck, I mean you have a tail for christ sake." That. probably wasn't the best thing to ask, but Dave shrugged it off wondering if the boy would answer that. John stared at him for a moment, trying to process what the fuck he had just heard.

 

"... Dude what the hell?? I'm not answering that!" John yelled embarrassed. Dave chuckled again, "I was kidding." he lied. He tilted his head and looked the boy up and down again, still wondering how it worked. A bit of color had returned to John’s skin and he didn’t look as bad as he had earlier. Aka, hotter.

 

"Have a name?" Dave asked. John rolled his eyes, “Yeah, I’m John. What about you?”

 

"I’m Dave, nice to meet you John." Dave smirked and held his hand out to shake. John nodded with a dorky grin, "It's nice to meet you too, glad you decided to help me instead of leaving me there to die."

 

"Thought you were waiting for your death." Dave chuckled and smiled again anyway. He walked a little closer to the shore, trying to get more comfortable in his soaking clothes.

 

"Sorry if i was being a bit of a douche, I was going a bit delirious there in the net..." John chuckled nervously. Dave smiled and shook his head, "Don't worry, I would be too if the situation was reversed." He picked up John’s hand without warning and looked at it curiously. His fingers were webbed together with a thin blue membrane that resembled the color of John’s fins. The back of his hand had sprinking scales and his fingernails were tinted blue as well.

 

"Dehydration, lemme' tell ya..." John said, flinching a little, looking at Dave in mild confusion.

 

Dave turned the hand over, making sure he wasn't twisting it uncomfortably and observed the webbing. He lightly ran a finger over the webbing, smirking at the feel.

 

"This is even weirder than the tail." Dave said. John’s palm however was completely normal, as far as a human hand went at least.

 

"Glad you think I'm weird Dave." John huffed. Dave chuckled again, "Not in a bad way, just a way new to me." He leaned down and kissed John’s palm, not trusting the scales still. "In a very, very good way"

 

He squeaked quietly, immediately turning bright red with a very slight grin. It was more out of surprise than anything, but it was also the fact that Dave had 1.) Kissed him (on the hand but whatever) and 2.) Was very goddamn attractive, like damn. He fumbled with trying to speak before giving up, looking rather flustered.

 

Dave looked up at him and laughed, ruffling his hair with one hand and keeping hold of John's hand in his other, "Calm down dude it was just a kiss."

 

"Yeah, what you think I don't know that, pft." John said, suddenly finding it very difficult to make eye-contact with the other.

 

"Actually the thought never occurred to me, but I’m sure theres something I could do to confuse you." Dave smirked, liking the idea of seeing John just a bit more flustered.

 

"For the love of god please don't." John said, not seeming too serious about the statement. Being confused wasn't something he'd really enjoy, but oddly enough it was sort of fun.

 

"Mmm alright. But I will do this." Dave said softly, cupping his chin and lifting his face up towards him, inching his face closer.

 

John’s eyes widened and he looked back at him. He knew this had to be another method of Dave's to get him riled up, so other than an uncontrollable blush, he didn't let himself react too badly.

 

Dave pressed his lips against John’s softly, letting go of his hand and wrapping it around his waist instead, he was able to feel both his scales and skin and it was an odd sensation.

 

John felt tense, and suddenly incredibly goddamn shy because he'd hardly known Dave an hour before this moment and he was kissing him. John should leave, right now, he should just go.

 

Dave pulled away when he noticed John wasn't responding to the kiss and looked down at him, trying to hide the disappointment in his face.

 

"To much too soon fishboy?" he teased, trying to hide himself in humor. He relaxed his arm on John’s waist, having it hang there loosely but not pulling away.

 

"Yeah, just... Yeah, sorry..." John sighed. God, he just knew Dave was disappointed, he didn't need to see his face to know.

 

"This is probably just a way bigger deal for me than for you..." He said in attempts to make Dave feel better.

 

Dave just shrugged, "Yeah maybe. Sure our costumes are much different than yours." He removed his arm somewhat hesitantly and took a step back.

 

"Sorry.. I should have thought before I did that." he said, knowing John had every opportunity to pull or push him away as he was leaning in but said nothing of it.

 

"Ugh, no, I’m sorry, I'm being stupid..." John sighed, feeling like a piece of shit, Dave kind of looked upset and he blamed himself for it.

 

"I don't blame you for not realizing it, it's fine..." He continued. Fuck, no it's not fine.

 

Dave looked up suddenly into John’s eyes and spoke quickly, "Can you meet me back at the cove tomorrow? Preferably not in a net."

 

"Oh, yeah, sure I can." John blinks at him, wondering the reason for his sudden-ness. Dave smiled, "Good. I should probably get going before my bro realizes I’m missing. See you tomorrow fishboy." He ruffled John’s hair again, smiling at the nickname he had quickly grown fond of.

 

"Alright then, see you Dave!" John grinned back at him, a ridiculous smile on his face.

 

Dave shook his head with a smile at the grin John gave as he ran back to the sand, grateful to finally get out of the water. He found Bro quickly in the crowd (easy since he was sitting on the roof of the snack shack, earning a few odd stares from beach residents and no notice from the workers) he walked up to him, offering no explanation to why he was soaked.

 

John sighed, watching Dave leave left his world empty once again. He drifted back until he was in deep enough water before diving under. The deep, dark expanse of water would have been inviting earlier. But now it was just a cold reminder that everyone was gone.

 

The next day Dave had to spend some time talking Bro into letting him go to the beach yet again. When he was finally able though, he strolled happily towards the cove, hopping John would actually show up.

 

If anyone asked, John would have denied staying there since the crack of dawn waiting for Dave. Of course this was completely true, and he waved to the blonde as he saw him approaching.

 

"Could you be less obvious fishboy? I’m sure you don't want others to see you. unless you like getting kissed by strangers." Dave teased as he sped up his pace to get to John faster.

 

"Oh ha ha ha, I could get away if I saw anyone other than you y'know." John smiled, rolling his eyes and scoffing at Dave comically.

 

Dave raised an eyebrow and sat on the sand near the edge of the water, the tides rising with each wave, toying at his shoe laces but he paid no mind.

 

"So im the lucky human you choose to form a bond with." He chuckled and leaned forward to ruffle Johns hair again.

 

"Is that a lucky thing or should I be worried about myths where mermaids are bad luck?" Dave asked jokingly.

 

"Bad luck?" John frowned, "No way, I'm not bad luck! Or good luck. I'm just, here." He shrugged with a dopey smile, silently enjoying whenever Dave ruffles his hair.

 

"As we all are." Dave said leaning back and resting on his elbows. He smiled softly and looked at John.

 

"What do you normally do in the sea to keep yourself busy?"

 

"I dunno, swim around, talk to fish. It's kind of boring honestly." John said, looking back over at Dave.

 

"Talk to fish?" Dave snorted a laugh, "What do they have to say? Don’t they have like a three second memory span? Or is that only goldfish, fuck I dont know"

 

"I don't know about goldfish, but they are pretty stupid." John says, furrowing his eyebrows with a sigh, "Like I said, boring."

 

Dave laughed and looked over at him, "Not much different than most humans actually. Most people are stupid as hell."

 

"Seriously, some of them aren't even coherent it's ridiculous..." John chuckles, leaning his back up against a nearby rock, his body mostly submerged in the water.

 

"Sounds tough." Dave smiled. He looked down at John, searching for his tail in the blue waters.

 

"How long can you be out of water comfortably?" he asked curiously.

 

"About an hour at a time." John shrugged, raising an eyebrow, "Why do you ask?"

 

Dave smirked,"I want to see you, and I think It’d be weird going under the water to try and see your tail closer." Dave looked up at him, "If you don’t mind I mean, I’m kinda curious though."

 

"Alright, yeah I agree with you, that'd be kinda weird." John said hopping up onto the sand next to him. The sand has been cleaned off the scales a bit more than last time, the light reflecting off them making a few appear green. It was an odd but beautiful effect.

 

Dave smiled and ran a finger over Johns tail, taking in the way the light reflected off it and looking over every detail. His lips twitched more into a smile as he neared the bottom of the tail where it fanned out into the fin. The scales grew smaller towards the fin, becoming lighter in color until peaking into a neon blue at the fin, appearing silver in the sunlight rather than green.

 

"Wow.." he whispered as his finger trailed down. John didn't see the big deal, he saw his tail every day. Although he could imagine Dave's awe, it looked kind of nice he guessed. Dave was so absorbed in the tail that he almost forgot about the one it was attached to. He finally snapped back and looked up at John, "Erm, I like your tail." He couldn't think of another way to put it without sounding weird.

 

John laughs, a light airy noise with a slight chatter that doesn't really sound like it should belong to him.

 

"Thanks I guess?"

 

Dave grinned and leaned closer to John, "Anything else about your body thats weird? Ear fins or something, scales on your scalp?" He reached forward, moving Johns hair gently out of the way of his ears to see if anything abnormal was there. Sure enough, John had a pair of functioning ear-fins that were capable of moving. They twitched automatically at noise Dave noticed.

 

"Well I don't know about scales on my scalp, but I've got ear fins.” John grinned.

 

Dave chuckled, and touched the tip of one, smiling at the small twitches.

 

"These are cool." he said with an approving nod. He ran his hand carefully through Johns hair, checking for scalp scales.

 

"Well no scales up here." he said, rolling away from John and laying back in the sand.

 

John grinned, and rolled onto his stomach to keep the sun out of his face, "Glad to know, I like to keep tabs on where I have scales and where I don't."

 

Dave chuckled and looked over at him, "Yeah? where else you you have them, if you have anymore that is."

 

"No where you haven't seen." John said, quirking an eyebrow at him and crossing his arms in front of himself and resting his chin on them.

 

Dave rolled onto his stomach as well, causing him to move closer to John. He flashed a smile and looked at him, "Have you ever talked to a human before? Besides me I mean."

 

"Not really, I get stuck in nets that aren't abandoned sometimes and I have to escape from old, crazy fishermen." John shrugged. Dave chuckled, "Sounds like an adventure. Ever been caught?"

 

"Not by anyone who thinks to take a picture, I've been pretty lucky so far." John said, grinning like he was the most cunning creature ever. Dave paused, a picture? He tilted his head and looked at John.

 

"Could I.. take a picture?" he asked hesitantly, he wasn't sure how much John trusted him yet and didn't want to push too much onto him. John was silent for a bit until he finally answered, "Under one condition."

 

"And what’s that?" Dave asked, hardly able to keep a small smile off his lips.

 

“You cannot let anyone else see it, don't show it to anyone, don't leave your camera anywhere, okay?" John said, his voice serious.

 

"I was planning on just using my phone, I can lock the photos." he smiled and looked John in the eyes, "Besides I would not be stupid enough to ever show anyone. At least not the fishy parts of you." He smirked and looked at Johns face. Thinking about when he eventually did go back home, having a boyfriend (hopefully) to show off. At least the face of his hopefully future boyfriend.

 

"Alright then, I guess that's fine." John smiled and nodded at him, despite the fact he had only met Dave yesterday, he pretty much trusted him completely. Dave rolled over and sat up, pulling his phone out of his pocket and standing up. He held it up and looked down at John, "I can take several right?" he asked,  clicking the photo and looking at John for permission. John looked up at him with a nod, "Yeah, same rules apply though, keep em' locked."

 

"Will do fishboy." Dave smiled and started taking a few more photos, from different angles, finding different reflections of the light on his scales and then moving to John’s hands, taking one in his own and getting a few shots of the webbing. He finally moved on to the ear fins and then several of his face where no scales or anything abnormal could be spotted.

 

"Smile John~"

 

John just watched Dave for the most part, still not quite understanding his fascination, but not minding it. He smiled when Dave requested, showing off an adorable grin with slightly bucked teeth.

 

"Nice teeth there." Dave chuckled. He sat back down by John and looked over a few of the photos.

 

"Have you ever seen yourself? I mean I'm sure you’ve found reflective things, but have you ever seen your whole self?" He asked John, flipping to another photo.

 

"Yes Dave, I've found mirrors and stuff, I know what I look like." John said, not overly impressed with that. But he continued watching Dave, his tail fin flicking up.

 

"Okay fair point, but have you seen yourself in this particular lighting?" Dave smiled at probably the best full body shot he got of John, where the light reflected on only half his tail, making it show both the non reflected blue and reflected greenish. He looked, well like a fantasy come to life.

 

"Well no." John shrugged with a chuckle, "What, does it make me look cooler or something?"

 

"Mmmm lets just say you look beautiful, and not in that girly way. You are just beautiful." Dave chuckled at himself and shook his head, knowing how lame he sounded.

 

"Haaa, yeah okay..." John blushed lightly, sounding moderately doubtful, but he didn’t make it obvious in his tone.

 

Dave smiled, "You know, I don’t think I've ever smiled this much. Like, take my whole life up until yesterday and I still don’t think the times I smiled will add up to as much as they have these days."

 

"What, are you serious?" John looked at him in surprise, trying to imagine a non-smiley Dave. He didn't like the results.

 

"Yeah. I blame you, making me lose my cool face with just a flip of your fin." he laughed and ruffled Johns hair, "But, I think its a good thing."

 

"Yeah, no kidding! I can't imagine a deadpan Dave all the time. I at least wouldn't like it, you look way nicer when you smile." John smiled softly. Dave looked at him with a straight face and quirked a brow, "What, you don't think this is an attractive face?"

 

"No, you have an incredibly attractive face." John said reaching forward, papping Dave’s cheek lightly, "It just looks nicer with a smile on it."

 

Dave grinned and leaned into the short touch and looked at him, "Where do you live?"

 

"Just out in the water along the shore, nowhere in particular I guess." he said, looking out to the water with a shrug.

 

"Do you sleep?" Dave asked laying down again.

 

"Of course I sleep, nothing out there is going to attack me."

 

"Oh." Dave said, his hand slowly crawling across the sand towards Johns, "So you’re like top of the food chain."

 

"Not exactly, it's more like they know not to mess with me." John smiled softly, oblivious to the hand creeping towards his own.

 

"Hmm, what do you eat?" Dave asked next, finally reached Johns hand and took it slowly and lightly into his own, intertwining their fingers as much as he could without messing with the webbing. John flinched in slight surprise, looking at their hands.

 

"Mostly aquatic plants and stuff, I know what's poisonous and what's not." John answered softly. Dave played it cool, pretending not to notice the flinch but taking note of it.

 

"So a sea vegetarian." he said.

 

"Um, yeah..." He said, voice getting lower as he continued looking at their hands. He didn’t get it, the gesture was alien to him. Dave tilted his head, "You okay?" He raised an eyebrow and looked at Johns confused face, god damn it was adorable. John lifted up their interlocked hands.

 

"What's up with this?" he asked.

 

“Are you asking why or what it is?” Dave smirked.

 

"Both I guess?" He asked looking so genuinely confused it wasn’t even funny.

 

"Okay, well this is called hand holding. It’s a form of affection that's less than a kiss and I thought would be more..suitable for you." he explained with a flash of a smile.

 

"Oh... Dave, I don't think you understood what I meant when I said it was a bit much." John frowns at Dave, looking a bit uncomfortable again.

 

"Merpeople are only ever in one relationship like this ever, it's not so much a matter of culture, it's kind of how our mentality works, it's a bit deal..." John said looking down.

 

Dave sighed and let go of his hand, "Okay, sorry." He shook his head, upset with himself, "I wasn’t thinking again. So hows erm, merpeople romance work then? So I don't make that mistake again.."

 

"I know how you humans can just be in and out of relationships, some fish are like that too. Merpeople essentially mate for life, and they're together until one of them croaks, no matter what. We form an emotional, kind of partially mental link with that significant other, then we just, belong to each other I guess. A fling or that kind of thing is something no merperson would ever be involved in, it's not how we work." John sighed, looking down at the sand, "You wouldn't want to be stuck with me."

 

"Because I've taken such an interest in any other person on earth." he scoffed, "But look," he turned on his stomach to face John, "If you decide that you do want to be my mate or whatever, im not a fling kind of guy, I'll take this seriously. Yeah sure, if this is a lifetime thing we'll both have to give it more thought and time, but I wouldn't just leave you. if it did happen.."

 

John nodded, looking back over at him with a grin, "I'm sure if we just gave this a bit more time, what he have going here, I'll be able to make that decision without a moment of hesitation. But I can't be positive yet about what I might think after a while..." Dave smiled softly and laid his head on his arms, "Okay cool, so this is still a potential option."

 

"Yeah, it is." John smiled back meekly, definitely doing some serious thinking. Dave looked over at John and chuckled, "Dude you don't have to think about it now, we've got time. Lets just relax and let this play out alright?"

 

"Yeah, but I mean, now I'm stuck thinking about it!" he sighed, sinking back to the sand with a look of slight defeat, "I'll try to keep my cool." Dave shook his head and smiled.

 

“Well if you're stuck thinking about it, why don't you tell me what you're thinking~?" Dave asked.

 

"It's mainly a pros and cons list, there's a bunch of really awesome happy pros, but a few majorly heavy cons also... The cons are a little depressing to say the least."

 

"Mmm like what..?" Dave asked, trying to fight a small frown. He knew there was the different species problem, but that wasn't too bad right?

 

"Like con number one, I can tell you aren't from around here, that leads me to believe you're vacationing, which makes me think you won't be around forever, which sucks." John sighed. Dave was silent for a little while before he sighed as well.

 

"Yeah. I’m from texas, here for the summer with my Bro..."

 

"I figured..." John grumbled. his sense of logic was his worst fucking enemy.

 

"You're the only living thing I've had a real conversation with in over a year, so when you leave i'll be stuck here, away from you and completely alone."

 

"Heh, dont suppose we could do long distance? Until I’m old enough to move out here on my own. I could.. I could get you a cell phone, and we could keep it in the cove so it won't get wet, and, and have a waterproof case just in case!" dave said frantically, one thing was for sure, he liked smiling. And John seemed to be the only one who made him happy enough to do so.

 

"Are you sure that would work?" John looked at him with a small sense of hope, maybe this could work, for the love of god please let it work.

 

"We could try.. you'd be willing to right?" Dave asked hopefully, dreading that none of it would work and send their relationship into the depths of hell, and Dave wasn't sure what would happen to a mer-creature if something like that happened.

 

"Of course I'd be willing to try Dave, it can never hurt to try... I don't think anyone has made me this happy before, I’ll be damned if I just give it up like that."

 

Dave smiled and reached forward, stroking Johns cheek with his thumb, "I feel the same."

 

This time, John didn't look uncomfortable, and he didn't feel uncomfortable. He was completely at ease and content to lean into his touch, "You're amazing." Dave chuckled, "No where near as amazing as you fishboy.”

 

"I beg to differ, you're way more amazing than me Dave." John giggled, putting on another grin.

 

"What’s this? Is John flirting with me?" Dave teased, tilting his head as if he had to think about this.

 

"Wow talk like I'm not even here why don't you, I'm making an effort here." John smiled, blushing slightly. Dave chuckled and moved Johns hair out of his face, "Yeah I know. I appreciate it."

 

"You'd better because I don't have a clue how flirting works." he said, smirking back at Dave.

 

"Okay then how do you guys flirt, or decide your mates normally?" Dave asked curiously.

 

"It's usually when two mutual friends kind of just, develop feelings for eachother. It's adorable I guess. Sometimes flirting happens but it's never anything serious."

 

"So not like my random kiss yesterday.” Dave said smiling guiltily.

 

"That, was kind of shocking." John admitted, looking at him, "Though looking back at it, it was kind of cute."

 

“And embarrassing.” Dave smiled, rolling his eyes.

 

"Mostly cute, and I felt kind of awful just automatically turning you down like that." John admitted. Dave waved him off, "It’s a big thing for you. I get it. Don’t worry about it, alright?"

 

"Yeah, alright..." John said looking thoughtful, gazing out to sea for a brief moment, "... Call me crazy, but I hope no one who left comes back."

 

"Why not?" Dave asked, moving his hand from John’s face. He looked out into the sea, half wanting to met Johns family.

 

"Because this kind of thing is so goddamn forbidden that it's ridiculous."

 

"Being with a human?" Dave asked, now not so sure about seeing his family.

 

"Talking to a human, being in contact with a human, fuck, being seen. We have a rule, and it's kind of gruesome...." John looked down at his tail.

 

"..How gruesome?" Dave frowned.

 

"If a human sees one of us, we're supposed to drown them. I just, i didn't want to hurt you, it wasn't right..." John sighed, feeling even more guilty. Dave forced himself to let out a laugh, "Be pretty fucked up considering I saved you." He then sighed and rolled onto his back looking up, "What would happen if they did come back?"

 

"If they found out, they'd wait for you to come back and they'd drag you to the seafloor... I wouldn't be able to stop them..." John admitted, forcing himself not to cry. No way he’d do that. Dave pressed his lips together tightly and gave a nod.

 

"Of course. sounds rather lovely." he said with sarcasm dripping like acid from his voice. He sat up and ran a hand through his hair, "This makes things..so much more complicated."

 

"But... You know what?They've been gone for a solid year, they probably don't even think I'm still alive. They have no reason to come back." he looks out up at the sky, and if looks could kill, every single goddamn bird would drop dead. Dave glanced over at him, "Why’d they leave anyway?"

 

"There were some unexplained merperson deaths, so pretty much everyone bailed except my dad and I."

 

"Your dad?" Dave questioned somewhat nervously, "And what if..what if he found out?"

 

"He won't." John muttered darkly, "He died last July, and I never found out what killed him."

 

"Oh..John I’m sorry I didn’t know.." Dave said softly, feeling like an even bigger idiot.

 

"It's fine, I'm over that loss, I've been over it." John looked coldly down at the sand in front of him, "I can only see Jade understanding, if she's still alive that is. She might go a little crazy at first, but she's nice enough. Maybe Jane if we were lucky enough to convince her. But Jake... He really has no reason to come back here, don't worry."

 

Dave sighed and nodded, reaching for Johns hand again but hesitating, "As long as you think we’ll be okay."

 

"If anything happens, I’ll let you know. But that probably won't there's no reason for it to... I think everything will be just fine." John said faking a smile. Dave smiled and let out a content sigh, "Well, its been a good day John, but I think I should be heading back to Bro now. Same time tomorrow?" he asked hopefully.

 

"Yeah, same time tomorrow for sure." he nods to him, making his way to the now closer water with a bit of effort. Dave watched him for a few seconds, "You okay?"

 

"Yes Dave, I'm fine." John rolls his eyes, smiling up at Dave.

 

"Alright fishboy, see you soon." Dave smiled and ruffled Johns hair.

 

"Bye!" John smiles, blowing him a kiss with a chuckle before disappearing under the waves. Dave pretended to catch the kiss, finding the action a lot more meaningful when he meant it rather than doing it to be cliche and ironic.

 

John sighed, finding the lonely underwater place much more tolerable knowing that he would be seeing Dave the next day. But John had encountered a bit of a surprise that night. Turns out his siblings decided to show the fuck up after all (and by siblings he meant Jake and Jade, Jane had apparently gone missing, what a tragedy.). John had a full twelve hours to explain things to the duo (Jade squealed with joy, Jake, not so much.). The mermaid having to cuss out the older emerald one before he agreed to not kill Dave on sight.

 

The next day Bro refused to take Dave to the beach, said he was going to get skin cancer or some shit the more he went out there. Dave ignored this and started walking to the beach, knowing he would be at least half an hour late to meet up with John. But hey, better late then never. He walked as fast as he could, not wanting John to think he was ditching him but he still had such a long walk and god damn the sun was hot and- you've got to be shitting. Dave groaned in frustration at the construction work on the road he needed to take.

 

"So, no clue where Jane is?" John asked, the three merpeople were waiting on the beach for the Strider human, Jake having cooled down a lot and Jade not being any less excited.

 

"Last we checked she was somewhere around the Galapagos, then poof, no sign of her!!" the lime green mermaid, Jade, exclaimed. Enthusiasm entrenched in her demeanor.

 

"That's awful, I hear the mers around there are kind of brutal..." John sighed.

 

"You sure this friend of yours is showing up?" Jake grumbled, looking at John quizzically.

 

"Of course Jake! He's just a little late today is all..." John said, started to doubt himself.

 

Dave had to go the long way, but eventually made it to the beach, just a few more minutes and he’d be at the cove.

 

"Ow fuck!" Dave hissed under his breath, raising his hand to his head where he had just been hit with a volley ball. This day, was shit. He finally walked up to the cove, rubbing his head still, "Hey sorry I’m la-" Dave froze when he saw the other mer-creatures and strongly considered turning around and running despite how tired he was, but he..couldn't get himself to move. Fuck, fuck I’m gonna die, he thought. Everyone looked in Dave’s direction, John flinching at how scared he looked.

 

"Dave, it's okay, I talked it over with them, they aren't going to hurt you..." John reassured him, hoping he wouldn’t leave. That his family wasn’t going to screw this up. Dave relaxed a little and cautiously took a few steps closer, unable to stop himself from admiring the others tails. He sat down, closer to john then any of the others and wasn't quite sure what to say.

 

"Hi.." he eventually coughed out awkwardly. Jade was the first to break the stony silence of the newcomers with a smile, "Hi! John's told Jake and I so much about you, Dave isn't it?"

 

Jake, Dave assumes, just looks at him, sparkling eyes that match an emerald's sheen narrowed judgingly. Sharp was the word for it. He was unrealistically green, reflecting shades of silver off his scales, which all appeared to have serrated edges. His tail tapered off to a fin that looks a lot deadlier than it is (which is not at all). He definitely looks stronger and meaner than both John and the other mer-creature.

 

"Yeah Dave, Dave Strider. Nice to me you uh...?" Dave said with a nod, trailing off when he realized he didn’t know her name yet.

 

"Oh, sorry! I'm Jade, nice to meet you Dave!" She smiled. Her name was fitting, her tail was covered in neon green scales, which reflected gold off the sunlight, tapering off to a nearly white fin, differing from John's, looking almost serrated. She had quite a bit of hair too, dark, curly and slightly tangled, reaching past her waist easily.

 

Dave gave a nod and looked over at the other one, "And you would be Jake I assume?"

 

Jake nodded, replying in a monotone, yet venomous voice, "Yeah, you best remember it." Jade huffs with a no-fear attitude, "Don't be so rude Jake, come on!"

 

"Right.." Dave mumbled looking over to John and scratching his neck awkwardly. This was definitely not turning out to be a good day.

 

"So.. what happens now?" Dave asked unsurely, directed a little more to John then the others but not excluding their input.

 

"Well I guess they came back, not much to it really. They're here now, so, everything is cool?" John said also not sure of what to do. Jade stifles a giggle as John continues, "Things don't have to change, I just wanted them to see you so they know not to drown you when you stop by." Jake grumbles something inaudible and Jade happily smacks him. Dave chuckled a bit, relaxing more.

 

"I guess that would be a good thing." he said looking up at the other two, Jade seemed alright but Jake was still slightly intimidating to him.

 

"Yeah! And Jake is going to develop a much better attitude about it, right??" Jade questions, eventually getting a, "... Right...", out of Jake. Jade is one bossy motherfucker. John rolls his eyes.

 

"Hey Jade, Becquerel is still here, and he missed you and Jake, wanna go sa-" John started but Jade has already dragged Jake underwater in a fit of squeal.

 

"... So yeah, that's them." John said laughing nervously and glancing back at Dave.

 

“Jade seems nice enough." he nodded and smiled, reaching over for Johns hand, "I didn’t keep you guys too long right?"

 

"No, you weren't that long. What kept you though?" John asked, already gotten this aspect of ‘hand holding’ figured out, and he meets Dave’s hand with no difficulty. Dave smiled at their hands and looks up, "My brother wouldn't take me so I had to walk, then there was some construction going on and I may or may not have a volleyball concussion."

 

"Aw jeez, sorry. Sounds like your day was kind of shitty..." he frowns, holding Daves hand a tiny bit tighter.

 

"It’s all better now that I get to see you." Dave grinned, it was lame and cheesy, but true. Thats all that mattered to him right now.

 

"Aw." John smiled, a sucker for cheesy stuff. He considered kissing him, then wondered where that thought came from, after which he then gave Dave a small kiss on the cheek because a thought process didn't occur there.

 

Dave smiled and looked at him, "You know we don't have to do this. I would like to believe me, but if this gets too hard or complicated for you, I don’t want you stuck with me for life.."

 

"There's no one I'd rather be stuck with Dave, I think I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I love you. I've thought about it, and I think I've learned enough about you to realize that you're just, maybe not perfect, but, perfect for me. Does that make sense?" John asked, hoping he hadn’t overdone it.

 

“Yeah John. It does, so..does this make us official then? What’s Jake think about it?" Dave asked. He wanted John’s family to accept him.

 

"I guess it makes us official. As for Jake, he's obviously rocky on the matter, I'm not sure why though, he hates humans a lot more than any other mer I've met."

 

"I wonder why, have any idea?" Dave asked.

 

"None at all, nothing has ever happened to him with humans as far as I know, he just doesn't like them." John sighed.

 

Dave nodded, seemingly letting the matter drop for now. He turned his attention back to his new relationship, "so what do mer-creatures even do in a relationship? Anything special I should know?"

 

"Spend lots of time together, it's really not that different from a human relationship, don't worry." John said flashing the smile Dave loved.

 

"Alright cool. I’m guessing normal dates are out of the option though" Dave chuckled. John giggled, swishing his tailfin side to side, "Yeah, sorry about that."

 

"Nah its okay, kinda goes both ways; you can't be seen in public and I can’t breath underwater."

 

"Yeah, sorry that i can't give you the gift of gills like all that folklore nonsense." John laughed.

 

"That’d be kinda cool." Dave admitted playfully, kissing Johns hand.

 

"And one hell of a first date." John giggle-snorts at the idea of it.

 

"Mmm thats true." Dave smiled. He laid back in the sand, keeping his hand in John’s.

 

"Though looking at it from your perspective, I can see how that would be totally awesome." John nodded.

 

"As long as I could still come up to shore a-" Dave cut off when he heard his name being yelled, "Fuck."

 

John flinched, his ears twitching automatically trying to pinpoint the sound.

 

"What was that?" John asked.

 

"You should probably go." Dave said frantically, scrambling up and pulling John towards the sea, but it was too late.

 

"There you are lil ma-" Bro stopped dead in his tracks upon the sight of John. John was petrified, staring at the elder Strider in what can only be described as terror. He was in moderately shallow water, but  could still get away if Bro got too close.

 

The two striders were silent for awhile, staring at eachother whenever Bro wasnt looking at John. Bro decided to break the silence, "What the fuck David."

 

Dave flinched at his name, his brother seemed..pissed? But why?

 

"Uh, yo. This is John.." Dave mumbled awkwardly, still holding onto John’s hand. John waved awkwardly, heart racing at a million miles an hour at the sound of Bro’s tone. He seemed really annoyed...

 

There was more silence. A heavy cloud of tension fell over the coven and Dave wasn't sure exactly what had caused it.

 

"So yeah, John this is Bro, Bro this is John and he’s..my boyfriend." Dave bit his lip and Bro just stood there stunned.

 

"Ha yeah, that's me, um..." John said before quickly deciding to shut up, realizing he was not helping the damn situation at all. That's when things got ugly, Jake had escaped from Jade and the albino dogfish, resurfacing to make sure John was alright. One attempt to speak, one look at the scene, and it was obvious something was going on between the older brothers, just by the way Jake looked at Bro.

 

Dave was confused as fuck, Bro wasn’t even sure what to feel, if he should be happy or not. Either way it was awkward for everyone. Jake looked confused, then hopeful, then mad. Damn did he look mad.

 

"... Dirk, long time no see old chum..." His tone did not indicate he was happy to see him or that he was happy. He was livid. John managed to get Dave out of the way so they weren't 'standing' in between the two. Dave looked down at John and held his hand tightly.

 

"You too Jake, you look like you’ve been doing well." Bro said, his teeth clenched and not sounding at all like he meant it.

 

"Quite the same to you. So tell me, what ever prevented you from telling me you were leaving? I waited for days you, bloody... Just, what the Hell?!" Jake hissed.

 

"It wasn’t all my fault okay? I had something going on back home that I was suddenly called down for." Bro said casting a quick glance at Dave who flinched back a bit.

 

"You couldn't leave a note, nothing at all?? Least you could have done was apologized for ripping out my heart you tramp!" Jake yelled.

 

"Jake!" John shrieked in shock, not receiving a response from the steaming merman. Dave pulled him close to keep him from running out towards Jake.

 

"It was last minute Jake, a meteor crashed by my house and I thought I’d be able to come back when everything was settled but I got held up in some stuff." Bro sighed, still talking loudly enough that both parties could still hear him.

 

"Held up, oh okay I get it, you got held up for sixteen motherfucking years!? Must have been pretty damn important there huh?? You never even thought to maybe run down here and see if I was still around when you got here, pretty damn sure you weren't busy then, were you?!"

 

"I was raising a kid alright? I was in no way ready to become a fucking father figure to this child and I don’t think dating a mer-creature on the side who lives three fucking states away was going to help me any." Bro yelled back, equally as heated in the argument now. Dave looked down, feeling as if this was his fault now, then looking at John in a somewhat shocked state when it was mentioned the two had been together. John looked back up at him with a mixture of fear and surprise, not sure how this was going to unfold.

 

"You weren't the only one raising a kid, I'm not Jade's father but like hell if I was going to leave my father there taking care of her and John!! It was pretty fucking easy to pick her up, make my way here and  wait for hours on end, hoping maybe you'd come back some day, I’m never getting those years back y'know!! Hope you had fun being a parent while I was stuck here!!" Jake yelled, tears obvious in his eyes but not pouring down his face.

 

"California isnt a swim away for me, do you know how expensive a plane ticket is? Or raising a child when you actually have to buy them things?! Look I’m sorry I left I know I made a mistake but I’m here now okay?" Bro hissed out, trying to calm down.

 

"What the hell does it matter?! You might have had your mind on other things but I didn’t!! Thanks to you I can never fall in love again, not that I’d want to knowing where it will leave me in the end!!" Jake continued yelling. Bro stayed quiet for a few seconds before mumbling softly, "I still love you."

 

Silence. Jake looked almost nauseous, like he'd just spat the most awful string of curses imaginable at someone he cared about deeply. Wait, that's exactly what he did. Damn. Then, about sixteen years worth of misplaced anxiety, fear and anger hit him like a ton of bricks. A ton of 'I'm trying so damn hard not to cry I'm such a huge dickwad I'm so sorry' bricks.

 

"I just, kind of thought, you didn't care anymore..." he finally admitted softly.

 

"I always cared man, I promised I would. Can we just.. try to work this out? Please Jake?" Dirk asked, desperation leaking into his voice. Jake looked at him for a moment. He had been hurt, an emotional scar that would probably never go away was evident in the way he acted, and not in the way he stared at the human.

 

"I... Well..." the desperation sold it, "... Yes, we can try."

 

Bro flashed a smile, "I’m so sorry for leaving you Jake, I didn’t mean to be gone this long I swear."

 

Dave coughed awkwardly to remind the two that John and he were still there. John papped Dave’s arm because they were having a moment so shush. Jake sighed, nodding to him with a very slight grin, "I know you didn't, jeez I feel like such a wad for yelling at you like that, I wasn't thinking..."

 

"No, I deserved it all and more, lets start over. Alright?" Bro said.

 

"You didn't, but alright. I don't want to be angry any more than you do." Jake nodded, swimming up to the shore, actually smiling for once. Bro walked closer, his pants getting a bit wet but not caring as he opened his arms for a hug. He stopped giving a fuck about wet clothes long ago. Jake hugged him tightly, feeling a huge weight lifted off his heart at the action When Jade popped up, a weird pure white salamander-esque fishy thing that kind of resembled a dog following her. She looked at the spectacle before her and it doesn't, quite, process.

 

Dave sighed, another one to join the party. At least she was nice. Bro hugged Jake tightly, kissing his neck and whispering a few more apologizes. Jade and the sala-dog-mander-fish move next to Dave and John. Jake just keeps telling Bro it's okay, kissing him in return and trying, not so well, to keep his cool.

 

"What am I looking at here..?" Jade asked.

 

"I think my brother and Jake are mates..?" Dave said still not sure of anything himself.

 

"What...?" she responds in quiet surprise, looking at John who confirms with a nod. Dave chuckles and watches the two in their embrace and whispers to John, "Well now we know why he hated humans."

 

"Yeah, that's one mystery solved." John nodded. Jade looks at the two, smiling and turning to Dave and John again, "Looks like everything is being worked out between them."

 

Dave nodded and smiled, "Hey John."

 

"Yeah?" John asked looking up at Dave.

 

"If bro’s mate is here, and my mate is here.. I don’t see a reason to be tied down in texas."

 

"Seriously?" John asked with the biggest, dopiest grin that ever existed.

 

“I don’t make the rules, but hopefully yeah." Dave shrugged, grinning at John’s smile.

 

"I hope that's how things work out, never having to say goodbye for long would be the best." John chuckles, smiling back.

 

"I mean, probably not right away, but sooner than waiting till I can move out." he smiled, putting an arm over John's shoulder. Bro finally broke away from the hug but stood close to Jake, his arm over his shoulders.

 

The five of them eventually got everything sorted out between them, Bro and Jake telling the story of how they got together and how it’s been all ties cut until now. How Bro was surprised when he saw Dave with John, it was like they were one big human...mer-creature family. But the day of the Striders departure came soon, too soon. Many tears were held in and Bro promised they would be back next summer and every one after it.

 

“Hey Bro?” Dave asked, looking over to Bro. They were in the plane heading back to Texas.

 

“Yeah lil man?” he looked back with a questioning eyebrow raised.

 

“We should move to Cali.” Dave replied, looking back to the seat in front of him. He could see Bro’s smirk from the corner of his eye.

 

“Sounds like a plan.”

 

\-----------End

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed the story! Putting this up temporarily cause I'd really love it if you could do me a favor. I'm running for promstuck princess out here where I live and I could really use some votes. Anyone who has a tumblr can do it. All you have to do is go to the-secretsurprise and send them an ask (not on anon) and say you're voting Lexi Aven for promstuck princess!Thanks so much guys I really appreciate it! <3


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